Thyago Vieira

The White Sox have placed catcher Welington Castillo on the 10-day injured list, per a club announcement. He’s said to be dealing with a strained left oblique.

This move will create active roster space for the previously reported arrival of Zack Collins, who’ll receive his first taste of the majors. The South Siders also reinstated lefty Jace Fry from the injured list. He’ll take the place of the previously optioned Thyago Vieira.

Castillo, 32, has long been a solid offensive performer. But he’s slashing a meager .196/.289/.364 over 121 plate appearances this year. Unsurprisingly, he has ceded more and more time to James McCann, who has continued his scorching start at the plate.

It’ll be interesting to see how this backstop situation plays out over the course of the season. In addition to the introduction of Collins, there are some reasons to expect both veterans to move back towards their career norms. Castillo has only a .232 batting average on balls in play, while Statcast credits him with a .340 xwOBA that dwarfs his actual .290 wOBA. It’s just the opposite for McCann, who has enjoyed a .400 BABIP and .378 wOBA but carries a xwOBA just scarcely north of Castillo’s at .348.

The White Sox have announced that right-hander Dylan Covey has been placed on the 10-day injured list due to inflammation in his throwing shoulder. Righty Thyago Vieira is coming up from Triple-A Charlotte to fill Covey’s spot on the 25-man roster.

Covey has a 4.58 ERA over 37 1/3 innings this season, starting seven out of his nine appearances for Chicago. The 27-year-old hasn’t missed many bats (5.3 K/9) while also posting a 4.82 BB/9, so between those numbers and a generous .239 BABIP, ERA predictors paint a significantly downcast view of Covey’s performance — 5.66 FIP, 5.84 xFIP, 6.12 SIERA.

Covey moved into the rotation when Carlos Rodon was lost for the season due to Tommy John surgery, and Covey’s absence further thins out Chicago’s pitching mix. Depending on how long Covey is out, the White Sox may be able to get by without a fifth starter altogether, as the club only plays eight times over the next 11 days. Beyond that, Odrisamer Despaigne is the only experienced option available at Triple-A, and he would need to be added to the 40-man roster. Of course, the White Sox also have one of baseball’s top pitching prospects in Dylan Cease, though it remains to seen if the Sox will promote Cease (and burn valuable service time) this season or wait until 2020.

The White Sox have selected the contract of right-hander Evan Marshall, per a club announcement. Reliever Thyago Vieira was optioned down to create roster space.

Marshall, 29, is still looking to recapture the success he had in his debut season of 2014. He has appeared in each of the ensuing four campaigns, but since that time has managed only a 7.89 ERA with 6.0 K/9 and 4.6 BB/9 in 43 1/3 frames.

There certainly is some promise in Marshall’s initial showing this year at Triple-A. He has yet to permit a run in ten frames while carrying a 13:1 K/BB ratio.

The White Sox announced Friday that they’ve designated right-hander Chris Volstad for assignment. His spot on the 25- and 40-man rosters will go to right-hander Tyler Danish, whose contract has been selected from Triple-A Charlotte. The ChiSox also called up right-handed reliever Thyago Vieira from Charlotte to join the big league bullpen.

Volstad, 31, has soaked up 47 1/3 innings for an ugly Chicago pitching staff so far in 2018, though he’s posted an ungainly 6.27 ERA with 5.5 K/9 against 2.3 BB/9 in that time. Those 47 1/3 frames are the most he’s totaled in a big league season since 2012; in fact, it’s a greater total than the combined number of MLB innings Volstad threw from 2013-17. The Sox have a week to trade him or run him through outright waivers, and it stands to reason that there’s a good chance he’ll clear and have the opportunity to remain in the organization at Triple-A.

Danish, 23, was one of Chicago’s better pitching prospects for a few years but cleared waivers and was removed from the 40-man roster last offseason. He’s had a nice run in Charlotte this season, though, notching a 3.06 ERA with 6.4 K/9, 3.6 BB/9 and a 51.1 percent ground-ball rate in 64 2/3 innings of work. All but two of Danish’s 29 appearances have come in relief, so it seems the organization will see how the former starter fares out of the bullpen moving forward.

As for Vieira, the 25-year-old flamethrower has had his struggles in Charlotte this year — his first in the organization. Chicago picked him up in a trade that sent international bonus considerations to the Mariners this past offseason, and while he’s averaged a heart 11 strikeouts per nine innings pitched in 2018, he’s also averaged 5.3 walks in that same span. Vieira averaged 98.7 mph on his fastball in last year’s brief MLB debut with the Mariners, and he’ll bring the ability to miss plenty of bats to the table on the South Side, even if control could prove to be an ongoing issue.

In the first episode of a new Mariners podcast, The Wheelhouse, general manager Jerry Dipoto joined host Aaron Goldsmith to discuss a plethora of topics regarding his team. The 41-minute, must-listen interview is packed with candid assessments of the Mariners’ roster, trade anecdotes and, perhaps most appealing to the general MLBTR audience, more than 15 minutes of talk on Japanese superstar Shohei Ohtani.

Dipoto doesn’t shy away from expressing his excitement to finally be able to talk about Ohtani now that the 23-year-old is going to be posted for big league clubs, and he’s frank in explaining his desire to make a serious run at signing the right-hander/slugger.

“We want to sell the Seattle experience,” says Dipoto. “What it means to the Japanese-American, our culture and how this organization has trended — and trended so positively — when we have a star Japanese player. And make no mistake — this is a star Japanese player. He’s talented. He’s gifted. He’s going to make some team a lot better.”

The GM goes on to acknowledge, of course, that Ohtani’s specific preferences when selecting a team remain unclear. It’s possible that Ohtani, for instance, would rather head to an organization that doesn’t have a storied history of Japanese stars so that he can form his own legacy, Dipoto suggests. For the time being, there’s not yet a great way to gauge his top priorities. There are countless variables that’ll determine where Ohtani lands, and while money doesn’t appear to be the primary factor, the Mariners will be on the lookout for means by which to acquire additional international funds to pad their offer to Ohtani.

To that end, Dipoto concedes that his trade of hard-throwing righty Thyago Vieirato the White Sox in exchange for international funds was “pretty much” done as a means of increasing his maximum offer to Ohtani. The Mariners also had a glut of pitchers on the roster, he notes (26 of the 39 players on the 40-man) and were in need of some maintenance before this week’s deadline to set the roster for the Rule 5 Draft, though that didn’t seem to be the primary motivation.

“We have made no bones about it in talking to other clubs,” Dipoto says of adding extra international money. “We’ve gathered as much as we can. … We are not going to leave a stone unturned in the efforts to do it again if the opportunity exists. We’ll be responsible in how we do it, but we understand that this is a one-time buying opportunity, and you have to be prepared. To me, the worst thing we can be is sitting on the sideline, being too conservative — sitting on our hands when an opportunity to change the history of your organization comes along, because that’s what this might be.”

The Mariners, Dipoto confirms, have just shy of $1.6MM to offer Ohtani at this point and have the capacity to acquire another roughly $2.3MM within the confines of MLB’s international bonus pool system. However, clubs are becoming less willing to part with international funding — hardly a surprise given not only Ohtani’s posting but also the new slate of prospects that are available to MLB clubs in the fallout from the Braves’ investigation (headlined, of course, by Kevin Maitan).

The Mariners have spent at least the past year working on their sales pitch to Ohtani, going so far as to prepare a “film on the merits of Seattle and the Mariners” as they seek different ways to pique his interest.

“This is maybe the most unique circumstance in baseball that I can recall,” Dipoto adds. “It is all about how you as a city, as an organization and as human beings appeal to an individual, rather than the final paycheck. In my lifetime, that’s really never been a thing.”

The Mariners, like most other clubs (presumably), view Ohtani as an immediately MLB-ready “plug-and-play difference maker” that doesn’t need a stop in the minors before pitching in a big league rotation. Dipoto notes that his team’s interest in signing Ohtani is so great that they’d be willing to play Nelson Cruz in the outfield a few times per week in order to free some DH at-bats for Ohtani on days he does not pitch.

With or without Ohtani, the Mariners’ lineup will have a different composition next season. The first major move of Seattle’s offseason was to flip Emilio Pagan and 17-year-old shortstop Alexander Campos to the Athletics in a trade for Ryon Healy, who will be the team’s new first baseman. Dipoto praises Healy’s lengthy track record of hitting, dating back to A-ball and even into his amateur days, noting that the Mariners have had interest in him since 2016. While Healy’s lack of walks doesn’t necessarily fit this front office’s typical blueprint for an offensive player, the GM expresses confidence that his new acquisition will be a positive contributor.

“Our ability to get on base may be a little more linked to the bat than we prefer, but he brings something that’s hard to find for us, and that’s cheap affordable power at a position that’s been difficult to fill,” says Dipoto. “…And that gives us one solution at an affordable rate with a player we hold for five more years — that allows us the ability to go focus our resources to fill needs in other areas.”

While Healy will be penciled in as the primary first baseman, his ability to play third base if needed held some appeal to the Mariners as well. Generally speaking, Dipoto voices a preference to avoid a necessity to rely heavily on strict platoons. The team still relishes the idea of acquiring versatile players that can handle multiple positions as a means of retaining roster flexibility, but taking up two roster spots to field one position is somewhat of an inefficiency that the M’s would prefer to move away from.

Seattle will also feature some changes in the bullpen, having traded Pagan and brought in right-hander Nick Rumbelow from the Yankees. Dipoto raves about Rumbelow’s performance in his return from Tommy John surgery this past season and praises him as a potential future setup man in the Seattle ’pen.

Rumbelow isn’t the first near-MLB ready player the Mariners have plucked from the Yankees, and Seattle will undoubtedly hope that he pans out similarly well. Both outfielder Ben Gamel and left-hander James Pazos have established themselves in Seattle, so much so that Dipoto notes that he gets asked about Pazos more than any other player in trade talks.

“You don’t find a lot of 26-year-old lefties who throw in the mid-90s, who are making close to league minimum, who have gone out and shown that they can be effective in the big leagues.”

Again, the entire interview is an excellent listen, with Dipoto sharing scouting stories on Ohtani, trade anecdotes, insight into the Mariners’ roster composition and some general insight into the various motivations behind his most recent set of trades. Fans of the Mariners and other clubs alike should find plenty of interest in the lengthy chat between Dipoto and Goldsmith.

1:03pm: MLB.com’s Jonathan Mayo reports that the Mariners are picking up $500K in the trade (Twitter link). However, Mayo also notes that the previously reported sum of $1.57MM that the Mariners had to work with was incorrect. Seattle, according to Mayo, initially had just a bit north of $1MM remaining in their pool, so this trade pushes their remaining total to $1.5575MM.

11:08am: The Mariners announced on Thursday that they’ve traded right-hander Thyago Vieira to the White Sox in exchange for international bonus money. The move opens a spot on Seattle’s 40-man roster in advance of next week’s deadline to set 40-man rosters for the Rule 5 Draft, and it also gives the Mariners some additional funds for the pursuit of Shohei Ohtaniand other high-end international amateurs.

The amount of money Seattle is receiving isn’t yet known, though international money must be traded in increments of $250K under the new collective bargaining agreement, so they’ll add at least that much to their pool. Ronald Blum of the Associated Press reported last week that Seattle’s bonus pool stood at $1.57MM, so they’ll add at least $250K to that sum. The Rangers ($3.535MM), Yankees ($3.25MM) and Twins ($3.245MM) still have the most to offer Ohtani, if he is indeed posted.

In exchange for the additional funds, the White Sox will reel in an MLB-ready bullpen arm capable of reaching triple-digit velocity readings on his fastball with regularity. Vieira, 25 in January, pitched to an even 4.00 ERA between Double-A and Triple-A last season. While his strikeout numbers at those upper levels weren’t what they were in Class-A Advanced, Jim Callis and Jonathan Mayo of MLB.com still pegged Vieira eighth among Mariners farmhands, placing a true 80 grade his fastball and giving him a 55-grade (above-average) curveball as well. Vieira has struggled with control at times in the minors, though Callis and Mayo note that he comes with a closer’s ceiling if he can put everything together.

Newly acquired Red Sox ace Chris Sale’s unorthodox delivery hasn’t posed any significant problems to this point, as he has exceeded the 200-inning mark in three of his five seasons as a starter and combined for 386 frames in the other two campaigns. Asked if that delivery will lead to trouble down the road, Sale’s former pitching coach with the White Sox, Don Cooper, told Nick Cafardo of the Boston Globe, “He knows himself really good. His delivery is solid.” Cooper added, “Chris Sale has three above-average major league pitches that he pours in and throws strikes. I don’t want to sound cocky, but I don’t think anyone saying stuff has a better idea about his delivery than me.” Cooper then lavished further praise on the 27-year-old Sale, who he thinks landed with the right club. “He’s put up Hall of Fame-credible numbers. And now he’s going to a team that is sparing no expense,” said Cooper. “Nothing stands in the way of them putting together the best team. He’s going to a team where he has a chance to put up even more wins. If he has 10 years like he’s had, he has a chance to have a Hall of Fame career.” Cooper had plenty more to say about Sale, so checking out Cafardo’s piece to read all of the pitching guru’s comments is highly recommended.

More from the American League:

The Orioles are interested in bringing back two of their former relievers, free agent right-handers David Hernandez and Vance Worley, reports Roch Kubatko of MASNsports.com. Hernandez, 31, was the Orioles’ fifth-round pick in 2005 and stayed with the organization through the 2010 campaign. He spent 2016 in Philadelphia, where he tossed 70 2/3 innings and logged a 3.84 ERA, 9.91 K/9 and 3.96 BB/9. Worley was with the Orioles last season, but they non-tendered him earlier this month in lieu of paying the 29-year-old a projected $3.3MM via arbitration in 2017. The swingman recorded a 3.53 ERA despite an ugly 1.6 K/BB ratio last season.

Having traded Cameron Maybin to the Angels earlier this offseason, the Tigers are looking for center field help “on every front,” general manager Al Avila told Evan Woodbery of MLive.com. “Maybe we can get that guy in a trade,” Avila said. “Maybe we can wait until January and get a guy to be a temporary fix. Maybe we can plug that hole with a sixth-year minor league free agent.” The Tigers have in-house center fielders Tyler Collins, JaCoby Jones and Anthony Goseset to compete for jobs, but they’d like for Jones to develop further at Triple-A Toledo. Gose spent most of his time last season in Toledo, where he got into a dispute with then-manager and now-Tigers hitting coach Lloyd McClendon. That rift is now “water under the bridge,” according to Tigers skipper Brad Ausmus. Gose is unlikely to reunite with McClendon in Detroit, writes Woodbery, who points out that Gose has no minor league options remaining. As a result, he might end up joining another organization via waivers if he doesn’t crack the Tigers’ roster. Collins is also devoid of options, though he’s a better bet than Gose to stick with the Tigers, suggests Woodbery.

After the Mariners promoted Edwin Diaz from Double-A Jackson to the majors last June, the electric 22-year-old burst on the big league scene and quickly became an elite reliever with his fastball-slider mix. The club might have another Diaz on its hands in relief prospect Thyago Vieira, who also relies on a fastball and slider, as Ryan Divish of the Seattle Times details. Vieira, who’s older than Diaz (24 next month), is capable of hitting 103 mph on the radar gun. “There can’t be many people in professional baseball with a better arm,” Mariners director of player development Andy McKay told Divish. “He throws enough strikes. I don’t think anyone would say there’s a ton of command, but there are plenty of strikes and the slider is hard to hit and really hard not to swing at.” Vieira spent most of 2016 at the High-A level and then pitched in the Arizona Fall League, but the Mariners nearly released him before the season. “In spring training, there was a question as to whether he was going to make a team or not based on his age and general performance history,” GM Jerry Dipoto revealed. Now, after working with minor league pitching coach Ethan Katz, Vieira is on Seattle’s 40-man roster and could debut in the majors in 2017. “I saw a big arm with a lot of potential that just needed a little more time to figure it out,” Katz stated. “There was some stuff that he was doing that needed to be fixed to help him succeed.” Vieira credits Katz for his breakout year. “I have to say thank you to the Mariners for giving me the opportunity to work with him,” Vieira said.